Nearly 500 former military admirals and generals are poised to endorse Mitt Romney, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.

The group will post a full page ad in the Washington Times on Monday. The advertisement will have the headline, “We, the undersigned, proudly support Governor Mitt Romney as our nation’s next President and Commander-in-Chief,” followed by the names of the former military commanders.

A spokesman for the group emphasized its independence from the official campaign. The Romney campaign has not sanctioned this ad buy, a spokesman said, and the members of the group are paying the fee themselves.

Nearly 500 former military admirals and generals are poised to endorse Mitt Romney, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.

The group will post a full page ad in the Washington Times on Monday. The advertisement will have the headline, “We, the undersigned, proudly support Governor Mitt Romney as our nation’s next President and Commander-in-Chief,” followed by the names of the former military commanders.

A spokesman for the group emphasized its independence from the official campaign. The Romney campaign has not sanctioned this ad buy, a spokesman said, and the members of the group are paying the fee themselves.

You want to slash military spending in USA by 50% over the next 5 years. I'm okay with obama limiting spending growth - but no way do I agree with you that 50% of it needs to go.

And I'm the one who doesn't give a damn about defense of the nation? WTF? That makes no sense.

A 50% cut in military spending is reasonable. For one thing, we don't need military bases in Europe or Japan any longer. Also, streamlining the military would be a good thing. Moving away from spending on traditional military implements in favor of a smaller, less bloated and better trained military would result in more efficieny, saving millions, maybe billions in the process.